Robert Rivernider Jr., 58, a pro-Trump activist in The Villages has been found guilty of voter fraud in the 2020 election after casting a ballot on behalf of his dead father.
Last year, the Sumter County Supervisor of Elections Office filed a complaint with the state attorney’s office alleging that the vote-by-mail ballot assigned to Rivernider’s father had been postmarked four days after his death.
Rivernider’s dad died from complications of COVID on Oct. 19, 2020. His ballot was postmarked on Oct. 23, 2020.
That was not the only discrepancy. Sumter County Elections Supervisor Bill Keen also noted that the signature on Rivernider Sr.’s ballot did not match the one they have on record for him, but it matched his son’s. A handwriting expert determined that the signature on the ballot was forged.
On Monday, Rivernider was found guilty of three felonies including, forgery to alter public records, fraud in connection with casting a vote, and pass counterfeit instrument, Click Orlando reported.
Rivernider is a Republican activist who has volunteered on the Trump campaign and the campaign for failed Congressional candidate Laura Loomer.
This is not Rivernider’s first run in with the law. In 2013, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison for operating investment fraud schemes that caused a loss of more than $25 million to individuals and lending institutions. He was released early from federal prison in May 2020.
State prosecutors also found that he voted in the 2022 midterms despite felony convictions and unpaid restitution. But prosecutors decided not to bring any charges against him because they could not prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that he meant to vote illegally, WFSU reports.
